Ravens TE Mark Andrews suffered fractured fibula, ankle ligament injury vs Bengals

NFL insider Ian Rapoport confirmed devastating news on Friday for Ravens tight end Mark Andrews following his early exit from the win over Cincinnati. The Pro Bowl tight end has reportedly suffered a fractured fibula and damaged a ligament in his ankle.

The Baltimore star underwent an MRI on Friday following the Thursday Night Football victory and he will undergo further evaluation, however, the diagnosis still means a long-term recovery process, if not surgery. Andrews went down on a hip-drop tackle, which resulted in his lower leg becoming trapped underneath the weight of the tackler as the defender came crashing in.

On #ThursdayNightFootball Mark Andrews sustained a serious ankle injury. This is why the #NFL wants to eliminate the “hip-drop” tackle.

Should they? How would that be enforced? As a defender trying to make a tackle how do you avoid this?pic.twitter.com/sYfFf6vpwD

— Vince Biegel (@VinceBiegel) November 17, 2023

The former third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma was having a stellar season so far for the 8-3 Ravens. He was second on the team in receiving yards beind only wide receiver Zay Flowers who has 564 yards and 10 touchdowns. Andrews leads all tight ends this season with six touchdowns on 45 receptions with 544 yards.

Lamar Jackson reacts to loss of Andrews

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who came into the league in the same draft class as Andrews, lamented the loss of one of his best weapons during his post-game press conference.

“It’s very tough, bro,” Jackson said. “I was just tellin’ the crew out there, that’s the guy who I got into the league with. We’re bread and butter, peanut butter and jelly, whatever you want to call it. That’s very tough because that’s my boy. Receiver No. 1 sometimes, you know?

“For him to go out first quarter, and he’s been having a remarkable year, one touchdown away from a record I think. That’s tough, man. But we’ve got (Isaiah) Likely, we’ve got Charlie (Kolar), got guys who’re going to step up, but it’s tough.”

Andrews happens to be Jackson’s top target in the red zone. The duo has 11 red zone touchdown connections over the last two seasons, which ranks third in the league.

Baltimore did enough to win the game on Thursday night as Jackson threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Ravens to the 34-20 victory.

The Ravens have a bit of extra time to recover before they travel to face the L.A. Chargers on Nov. 26. After games against the Chargers and Rams, Baltimore closes out the regular season slate with games against teams that are all above .500. They’ll play the Jaguars, 49ers and Dolphins before finishing the year with the Steelers.